Every year when the festival of Eid comes around, I am constantly asked what is Eid? To which I reply it’s the Islamic Christmas. Well to be honest it’s not but it’s an easy way to explain to my non-Muslim friends, who are curious to find out about this “Eid” […]

  Madrid, 1990: an art-loving student comes across a mysterious “master” who aims to reveal to him the secrets hidden behind the paintings kept in the Museo del Prado. From Botticelli to Bosch, from Titian to Bruegel, the enigmatic master brings the classical interpretation of the works into question, venturing […]

I’m pretty sure my American second cousins, should they visit us again in the next few years, would be very surprised to discover that in England, we sadly do not all wear long medieval dresses, ride carts and plot the downfall of the present monarch. Because the new show in […]

As Easter 2013 approaches us we take a look at the history of Easter, and we ask ourselves some questions about the. Such as, why do we have Easter Eggs? Who is the Easter Bunny? And why do we have Easter Egg Hunts? What is Easter? Easter is a holiday […]

To some, vintage is just smelly, used, out of date clothing. But what’s the difference between wearing an item of clothing that’s twenty-five years old or trying on something cheap and new from Primark that dozens of people have already tried on? Buy it, wash it and it is as […]

When a person thinks of a ukulele, they often link this excellent instrument with Hawaii and its culture. While it is an adequate and correct pairing, considering the fact that the ukulele was in fact created in Hawaii, its ancestors and inspiration trace back to European colonialism. Ukuleles came to […]

Everyone else is asleep. It’s almost eleven o’clock, but I can’t sleep. I lie tossing and turning in my bed. Above me on the wall are framed verses from the Quran. Even I know the characters Allah Akbar, ‘God is Great’. I smile. Is it his will that I am able to […]